Episode 5: Michael Tubbs

Michael Tubbs is the former mayor of Stockton and the author of the upcoming book, The Deeper the Roots: A Memoir of Hope and Home.

Stockton is representative of where California intersects—or where California collides. You have this tension between rural and agricultural and urban. I remember telling people I was from Stockton, and everyone thought it was a community with a lot of farms. I was like, “I ain’t never seen no farm!” It’s a city with city issues but a very agricultural background. That place has given me an appreciation for salt-of-the-earth-type folks—folks who may not have gone to college, folks who may not work in tech or the creative economy, but are still smart, are still important, still matter.  

Notes and references from this episode: 

What is California? newsletter on Substack

Stockton on My Mind, directed by Marc Levin

Invisibilia: The Chaos Machine, by Yowei Shaw and Kia Miakka Natisse

The Deeper the Roots: A Memoir of Hope and Home, by Michael Tubbs (published Nov. 16, 2021)

Anna Malaika Tubbs - Author site

Competing Voices: A Critical History of Stockton, California, by Ronald Isetti

“Oldest gurdwara in US,” by Asha Seth & Ramesh Seth, Spectrum - Tribune India

Stockton Economic Empowerment Demonstration (SEED)

SEED Data Analysis and Dashboard

Editorial: Now, for your local fake news…, Los Angeles Times

The Rev. James M. Lawson - biography, MLK Research & Education Institute, Stanford University

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